WÖR x Kongero
The album kicks off at a cracking pace with “Var Är Du?”, a bravura performance through a twisted, tortuous piece that manages to be both elegant and surprising. However, the true astonishment arrives at the end, when the audience applauds and you suddenly realize this was recorded live (actually over two separate performances).
The musicians bring material from their separate traditions, plus one original, showcasing their skills in intricate, swinging arrangements for both instruments and voices. Thanks to their skill, the varied ideas fit together seamlessly so it’s brimming with delights, like the wonderfully-titled “Drinking Like A Sweet Swede,” where the singers layers their harmonies over a jaunty backing. Everything is intricate, performed with a glowing precision that can disarm the senses with its beauty. The highlight, perhaps, is the beautiful “Klosterjungfrun.” The slow, seductive opening draws in the listener, the voices airy and light, curling around each other as the instruments wind long their path their. It’s a beautiful piece, but really, just one gem among so many here.
There’s never a foot wrong, no note out of place and the performances are passionate, stellar, a true collaboration of instruments and voices. Add to that a mix that’s sharp as a razor, and Songbooks Live is a truly outstanding album, a perfect illustration that people have more in common than separates them. And it illustrates exactly what artists can achieve live. With luck, they’ll work together again. Soon, please.
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This collaboration between the five-piece Belgian instrumental group Wör, whose members specialize in bringing the music of earlier centuries to life, and Kongero, the acclaimed Swedish female acapella folk quartet, offers an unusual chance to explore how their two cultures, ostensibly so different, can come together. It might sounds an unlikely mix, but here’s a spoiler: it turns out they’re pretty much musical best friends.
